Zelensky’s party expels lawmaker for wartime trip to Thailand

Kyiv:

Ukraine’s ruling party has expelled a lawmaker from its parliamentary party after reports of him traveling to Thailand during Ukraine’s conflict war with Russia sparked an uproar.

Party spokeswoman Yulia Palichuk said on Friday that Mykola Tyshchenko had been expelled from the Servant of the People’s voting bloc after an announcement on the website of the Ukrainian embassy in Thailand said that Mr Tyshchenko had met Ukrainians at a hotel there. Meet with members of the population.

Tishchenko said on Facebook that he was on a business trip in Asia with the approval of party leaders, “acting exclusively in the interests of Ukraine”. Parliament Speaker Ruslan Stefanchuk said he had not approved any such trip.

A winter trip to sun-drenched Southeast Asia comes amid a move by President Volodymyr Zelensky to project an image of greater accountability for officials.

More than a dozen senior officials were fired or resigned this week, including a deputy prosecutor who came under press fire for a holiday in Spain in the biggest shakeup of the Kyiv leadership since the start of the war. I had come

President Zelensky this week announced a ban on private trips abroad by officials. Most Ukrainian men aged 18-60 are already barred from leaving the country under martial law since Russia launched its full-scale invasion in February last year.

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